


Letters Across the True Sea

by Sarai



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Canon Compliant, Colm Fahey is the best parent, Epistolary, Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, being a fabrikator is complicated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 14:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarai/pseuds/Sarai
Summary: Dear Da,Wylan says to just sit down and write what’s in my head, but what’s in my head is Wylan telling me to sit down and write what’s in my head. Ketterdam is okay. The weather is dreary, but that’s Ketterdam for you...------------With Colm in Novyi Zem and Jesper in Ketterdam, the Faheys write letters to keep in touch.





	Letters Across the True Sea

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about how hard it must have been for Colm leaving Jesper again after what happened last time, and just hoping he would be well... and this story happened. I hope you enjoy it!

April 15  
  
Dear Da,  
  
Wylan says to just sit down and write what’s in my head, but what’s in my head is Wylan telling me to sit down and write what’s in my head. Ketterdam is okay. The weather is dreary, but that’s Ketterdam for you.  
  
I just read the letter back to him. Apparently this “doesn’t count” as it “lacks anything substantive or personal”. Who made him a literature critic?  
  
DISCARDED  


* * *

  
  
April 17  
  
Dear Da,  
  
I want to write to you, but I don’t know what to say. Wylan offered to help, so we’re writing this letter together. Things are good here in Ketterdam. I’m staying out of trouble. But it wouldn’t be so bad to play a few hands of cards, right?  
  
I can’t send this one, either. I know that, Wylan. (I wrote that before reading it to him. When I read it to him, it’ll already be in there.)  
  
DISCARDED  


* * *

  
  
April 22  
  
Dear Da,  
  
I screwed up again. I said that thing about Wylan not being a literature critic. He excused himself, but I could tell he was hurt. So I’m going to write you another letter and do it right this time, because that’s about the only thing I can think of that might help.  
  
DISCARDED  


* * *

  
  
April 22  
  
Dear Da,  
  
I hope you made it back home safely. I have been checking the reports and the only ship to sink was near Fjerda, though, this being Kerch, they only report publicly on the trade ships.  
  
Things are good here in Ketterdam. I haven’t been shot at since you left, but that might be because I haven’t met any new people. (Ha, ha.) Please don’t worry about me. I’m safe. Wylan’s looking after me and I’m looking after him.  
  
Wy’s father was arrested. Since you met Jan Van Eck, you probably won’t be too sad about that. So now we’re trying to figure out everything Wy inherited with the businesses.  
  
Inej thinks I should go back to university. Maybe some day I will, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. University was hard for me. Even though I could understand the information, I had a hard time sitting for the classes and the reading. I tried to do well there, Da. It was just too calm, too quiet.  
  
That’s probably a strange concern since I’m living in Geldin District. Things are mostly quiet along the Geldcanal, but not here. I’ve been teaching Wy to play football. He never learned! Who doesn’t play football? That keeps me busy. He draws well, though. I’m enclosing a picture he drew of you and me at the Geldrenner.  
  
I’ve also been working on that jigsaw Ma left me—you know, the one with fifteen hundred million pieces? I’m trying, Da, but it’s a tricky one. I think I have some of the edges started.  
  
Love,  
Jes  


* * *

  
  
May 01  
  
Dear Jesper,  
  
I hope all is well with you in Ketterdam. The journey home has been uneventful and things are much the same as how you left them here. Quieter, mind, but otherwise the same. There’s a fair bit of talk about the King of Ravka and his getting married one of these days. That sort of business never stops, I suppose.  
  
Some of the neighbors have put up a greenhouse—you remember, that lad you snuck off with when you were ten and tried to build a flying bicycle—he’s had some luck growing his seeds through the winter, though most of them die off before he can plant them. I’m keeping an eye on it, though so far it seems a significant investment without enough payoff to be worthwhile.  
  
Take care of yourself. Write back when you have time.  
  
I love you.  
  
Da  


* * *

  
  
May 17  
  
Dear Jesper,  
  
Thank you for your letter.  
  
I’ve considered for some time what you wrote. I thought university was right for you. That may have been one of my mistakes. If it’s what you want, try again, but don’t do it to prove anything. I know how smart you are. I know you tried. It’s the university’s failing that they can’t teach someone who’s not like them.  
  
Your ma was special. It was more than her knack for jigsaw puzzles, although she did have an extraordinary talent. It was who she was. You know she was special, but you grew up out here, where everyone knew everyone. You didn’t see how things were for her in the city. Your ma knew she would never fit in, never be the same, so she never tried.  
  
You’re that way, Jes. It doesn’t mean she was unhappy or that you have to be. You just have to be yourself. Sometimes that will mean not fitting in. I wish she had been here to show you. I can’t. Maybe we were always bound for trouble, an ordinary man with an extraordinary son.  
  
After our conversation in Ketterdam, I’ve thought more about her. Neither of you is ever far from my thoughts, but you made me think about her in a new way. Went out to talk to her and told her that you’re doing well. She would want to know that.  
  
I love you.  
  
Da.  


* * *

  
  
June 03  
  
Dear Da,  
  
Me and Wy talked about the greenhouse. We’re working on ideas. Maybe we can come visit you and build one. Well, we would build, you and me, I wouldn’t trust Wy with a hammer, he’d probably break his own hand. I told him I wrote that and he said to tell you it’s not true. (It is true.)  
  
We have a printing press and I pick some of the manuscripts. Everyone likes the gruesome stuff with murders and everything. I know you don’t care for that sort of thing, but there is a lot of carnage in the holy stories, too. Didn’t Sankt Ilya tear a baby in half?  
  
I’m doing my best with that puzzle, but it’s confusing. Sometimes I just need a break from it or I can’t focus. Mostly I’m okay. Don’t blame yourself that I slip sometimes. That’s on me.  
  
There are many ways to be extraordinary. You are not a jigsaw enthusiast like Ma was, but that is far from the most important thing a person can be. You and Ma both brought me up knowing I was loved and worth loving. You showed me what it means to be a good man. Like how that doesn’t mean one thing, and it can include recognizing mistakes. You’re still doing it now.  
  
Sometimes you and I don’t understand each other, but it doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. I know that. I know you do, too.  
  
Love,  
  
Jes  
  
P.S. I miss her, too. Please tell her I said hello.  
  
P.P.S. If you have time, would you write a letter for Wylan? I kind of told him you would be his da, too.  


* * *

  
  
June 07  
  
Dear Mr. Fahey,  
  
I hope you receive this letter well. Having Jesper here has been lovely. He is a joy. You have a lot to be proud of.  
  
The boys are very much enamored of one another. It’s sweet how much children imagine we overlook. They scarcely take their eyes off one another. They jump apart when I walk into the room like they haven’t been holding hands.  
  
And they laugh.  
  
They laugh so much. All the time.  
  
They are both at an age at which they consider themselves adults. Never mind that yesterday they put a football through the sitting room window. They’re good boys and mostly make the right decisions. When things go wrong, I’ll be here. You needn’t worry.  
  
Sincerely yours,  
Marya Van Eck (Wylan’s mama)  
  


* * *

  
  
June 20  
  
Dear Wylan,  
  
Thank you for helping Jesper write his letters. I know my boy’s voice as much as his handwriting and I don’t doubt he meant what he wrote any more than I doubt he needed your help finding the words. I did say you’d be good for him.  
  
Jesper mentioned bringing you to Novyi Zem with him and you’re both welcome here. The farm won’t be what you’re used to, but it's home. I expect there’s more to you than you cared to let on when we met. Which is fine. You’ll say what you’re ready to say. But I’ve met your father and I saw you after that day in the church. If you ever need, you feel free to write.  
  
Sincerely,  
Colm Fahey  


* * *

  
  
June 20  
  
Dear Jesper,  
  
I’m glad to hear you’re keeping yourself busy. There might not be as much taste for gruesome reading here, but I don’t keep up with these things.  
  
As you well know, Sankt Ilya restored a child who had been injured in a farming accident. He did not tear a baby in half.  
  
This is always your home and you are always welcome here. You can bring Wylan if you like. I have a hammer but will hide it prior to his arrival.  
  
It’s okay that you make mistakes. As long as you keep trying, I will be proud of you. She would be proud of you, too.  
  
Finally, a word about your ma’s jigsaw puzzle. It is not fifteen hundred million pieces. I might not know the puzzle, but I know you. I know what you’re capable of. Take it in small steps, do what you can. You’ll put it together. Not being a jigsaw enthusiast myself, maybe I’m not one to speak on such things, but I’m still your da and you are still my son. I know you can do this, Jesper.  
  
I love you.  
  
Da  
  
P.S. I was not pleased to hear about the sitting room window.


End file.
